Yangchun village

On Friday the Amsterdam court held the first day of trial in a lawsuit over a Buddha statue containing a mummy. A group of Chinese villagers sued Dutch collector Oscar van Overeem claiming that the statue in his possession was stolen from their village, YangChun, in 1995, the Volkskrant reports.

Chinese media is claiming that the Buddha statue containing a skeleton of a Chinese monk was stolen from a Chinese village in 1995, and the country wants it returned. The statue is currently owned by a Dutch private collector and was on display in Drents Museum in Assen until the recent return to its owner, newswire ANP writes.